By midday on Wednesday, the temperature is set to hit 96 degrees and it’ll be even worse on Thursday with temps going to 97 degrees – but high humidity and low winds could see a peak of 105 degrees! Unsurprisingly, the National Weather Service has already issued a Heat Advisory for the New York City area from 12 p.m. Wednesday to 8 p.m. Thursday.

In order to cope with the heat, the city council has already said they will open hundreds of free cooling centers in libraries and senior centers all over the five boroughs. The extra demands on the city’s power infrastructure will also see “train signals, elevator and escalator services” reduced to lower energy consumption (as required by contracts with the agency’s power suppliers).

“While we are obligated to reduce power consumption, we will make every effort to provide safe and reliable service throughout our entire network,” MTA chairman and CEO Joseph J. Lhota said in a statement. “We will do everything possible to avoid service disruptions.”

The high temperatures are said to simply be the latest symption of global warming on New York. Last year, a report from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority stated that the city had seen temperature increases of 2.4 degrees Farhenheit in the last 40 years. Not just that, but they predicted a rise of an additional 3-5 degrees F by 2050 and up to 7.5 degrees by 2080.

Considering that Manhattan is also at sea-level, news that the water has risen by about a foot over the last hundred years should also concern New Yorkers, especially as it will continue to rise from 8-23 inches by 2080.

Just as a matter of interest, AccuWeather states that the highest recorded temperature for June 21 was 97 degrees in 1988, so if it does hit 100 degrees that is a new record!